A portable mixer of the general type disclosed herein is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,401,098, to Vadnais and the related PCT application Wo 96/30179, both entitled "Portable Hand-Held Concrete and Mortar Mixer", which are incorporated by reference herein.
The mixer disclosed in the '098 patent is manufactured by the applicant. A pre-existing garden cultivator was modified, by changing the mixing blades and a shallow plastic mixing tub provided for containing the material to be mixed.
After an extended period of use, the peripheral ring extending about the mixing blades disclosed in the '098 patent wears in the region where the peripheral ring engages the mixing tub floor and the tub side walls.
The mixer utilized in the device set forth in the '098 patent has a blade assembly made up of a hub, a stamped blade portion, a peripheral rim and a series of tines attaching the peripheral ring to the stamped blade portion. The resulting structure, particularly when mounted adjacent a like or generally similar blade assembly becomes particularly difficult to clean, especially when the mixer is equipped with an upper shroud.